At ISDC Michael announced without much fanfare that we're planning to do both level 1 and level 2 of the Lunar Lander Challenge this year. With the deadlines coming up, that's what we're working on now. We have a structure for development, which unfortunately means doing test flights every couple of weeks as we work on subsystems, rather than flying every day like I'd like to do.

We'll be building two new vehicles for LLC, while testing stuff on B. We're also continually improving the 750lbf engine, as well as starting work on a 2500lbf engine.

We have a couple of new technologies that haven't been used by anyone else in our part of the industry, so it'll be great to see if those work or not.

That sounds very exiting!
It is just a shame, that this kind of head to head race comes after the changes to the LLC rules. An event with 4 or even more different vehicles flying would have been amazing!

We need to do a technical update soon, but really won't have time until Friday at the earliest. But for those wondering, the quick summary is:

1-We did those two 95-100s flights yesterday, so the engines are now proven for the flight duration we need.2-We've done several ground takeoffs and landings, but are having some issues with part of the landing gear. We should hopefully have that resolved today.3-We've upgraded the GN&C substantially, and the new controls appear to be doing well, even in crazy winds.

We're not out of the woods yet for being able to compete this week, and we're behind where we wanted to be with this little time left before our first window, but it looks like we should be able to make our attempt.

WHAT: On Sept. 16, Masten Space Systems will be the second of at least three teams attempting to win a portion of a $2 million incentive prize purse as part of the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge (NGLLC), funded by NASA, and created and presented by the X PRIZE Foundation.

Masten will compete in Level 1 of the competition, hoping to win a second-place prize of $150,000 (first place went to Armadillo Aerospace at last year’s competition). Masten has already scheduled multiple dates at which they will attempt to complete the requirements for the Level 2 mission in October, which would put them in the running for a $1 million prize purse.